<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>sacred new beginnings by cherstandish</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26574466">sacred new beginnings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherstandish/pseuds/cherstandish'>cherstandish</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Developing Relationship, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, i'll probably edit the tags as the story develops, or at least i hope it is ngl, past felix/eric sohn but just for a little while</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:22:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,358</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26574466</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherstandish/pseuds/cherstandish</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Pragmatic, well-balanced Seungmin has to share an apartment with a complete stranger after his plans for moving out of his shared student residence don't go the way he was planning.</p>
<p>It turns out, changes aren't always for the worst of things sometimes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Seungmin/Lee Felix</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Seungmin-Centric Ficfest</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>sacred new beginnings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Alright, so this is it. Thank you, hyung,” Seungmin says as soon as all of his stuff, packed in boxes and yet to organise, is dispersed in the living room of his new apartment. He’s probably sleeping on the couch that night, since not all of the furniture has been delivered yet (including his own bed), but he doesn’t really mind. He specifically bought a very nice, comfortable couch in case he’d have to sleep on the couch the first night in his new apartment. See, he had everything planned. This was an exceptionally executed plan that Seungmin had carefully crafted ever since he decided to move into a shared house instead of staying with his parents when he started college.</p>
<p>And now, after years of saving, he’s there: at 21, standing in the living room of his own apartment.</p>
<p>(Well, not “completely” his. Half of his stuff is old furniture that his parents had, and he still has to pay rent, but still! It’s his!)</p>
<p>Seungmin can, now, check off that goal on his bucket list. Moving out of the shared residency was a must: he was the only third-year to still live there, and after Soobin and Jinyoung left, his last housemates were, either, extremely annoying, noisy, or borderline suspicious. He needed to get out, especially because he was certain that Yejun was trying to curse him or something like that.</p>
<p>But, finally, he’s free. Free from irritating roommates, weird pseudo-witches, noisy parties every day of the week, and having to walk in to two freshmen getting way too comfortable on the couch. Now, he can live in peace, without having to work part-time (and free, worst of it all) as a babysitter for a bunch of reckless freshmen.</p>
<p>Minho leans over the doorframe as he copiously drinks from his water bottle, wiping the beads of sweat that glisten over his forehead. “Well,” he says, walking over to Seungmin and playfully ruffling his hair, earning a groan from the younger. “Let’s go get some drinks. I’ll call Changbin and convince him of paying,” the black-haired male proposes, a mischievous glisten on his cat-like eyes.</p>
<p>Seungmin purses his lips, gesturing at the boxes around him. “Honestly, I would love to join you guys, but I still have so many things to do around here, and I’d really like to not pull an all-nighter tonight-“</p>
<p>“Bullshit. You’re on break from school, don’t have a shift tomorrow and you’ve pulled this excuse on me too many times. We’re going,” Minho interrupts him, holding him by the wrist and pulling him out the door. Seungmin has little to no time to grab his phone and wallet, in case Changbin isn’t willing to pay for them again.</p>
<p>“What do you mean ‘too many times’, hyung? You do realise this is the first time I ever move out, right?” Seungmin says, trying to force himself out of Minho’s strong hold. They’ve barely made it out of the apartment, but if Seungmin knows anything about the eldest, is that he won’t give up without a fight.</p>
<p>“I meant the all-nighter excuse, you dummy. You always use that one when I try to hang out with you,” Minho pouts, still trying to get Seungmin out of the apartment. “You never want to hang out with your favourite hyung anymore. I’m extremely hurt by that.”</p>
<p>“First of all, you’re absolutely not my favourite hyung. I despise you and would sell you to Satan for a corn chip,” Seungmin jokes, and Minho rolls his eyes, pulling even harder on his arm and making Seungmin stumble, finally getting him out of the apartment.</p>
<p>“Bullshit. It is me who would sell you to Satan for a corn chip. But that would be extremely nice of me, since that’s literally where you came from,” Minho says, winking at him and escaping Seungmin’s punch, laughing. The door closes behind them, and Minho walks alongside the hallway directly to the stairs, with a tired Seungmin behind him.</p>
<p>“Hyung, wait. I have to set up a code,” Seungmin stops when they’re in the middle of the hallway, ignoring Minho’s exasperated sigh. Seungmin manages to free himself and runs back to his apartment, typing an easy code into the small keypad before the oldest holds him by the wrist again. Seungmin is dragged along the hallway and down the stairs, inevitably pouting. “I really don’t wanna third wheel you two, you know?”</p>
<p>Minho shrugs, dragging him out of the building. His car is parked nearby, so he lets go of Seungmin and walks to it, followed closely by the younger. When Seungmin is there, Minho opens the passenger door and pushes him in. “Call Hyunjin, then.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And... that’s all! Thank you, Chris!” Felix says when Chan comes out of the room, after having to drag Felix’s entire dorm room upstairs and into the apartment, and throws himself on the nearest couch, panting. The eldest blond shoots a glare at Felix, who’s grinning at him and not even tired at all. “You’re the best, man, really.”</p>
<p>“Mate, you didn’t even help?” Chan complains. Felix is about to protest when Eric comes out of the bathroom, drying his hands on his shirt, and walks over to Felix, leaving a small peck on his forehead.</p>
<p>“Everything is ready, just for you to organise everything into place. I’ll miss seeing you wake up every morning, babe,” the brunet says, wrapping his arms around Felix’s waist. “But this is a pretty place. Just let me know when I can move in.”</p>
<p>Felix laughs and grabs his boyfriend’s face, giving him a quick peck in the lips before hugging him back. “I’ll miss you too, love, but you know you can crash over anytime you want!” the blond says, resting his face on Eric’s chest. “I mean, it’s not like there’ll be anyone to kick you out.”</p>
<p>“Or Juyeon trying to separate you both with a shovel,” Chan intervenes, getting a giggle from Felix.</p>
<p>Eric shudders. “Oh, thank God. I still have mental scars from that time. Or when Mark tried to shoot me with a Nerf gun.” Felix can’t help but giggle at the memory, earning a scowl and a smack on his head from Eric. “Don’t laugh, c’mon, that was terrifying.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, Mark Lee who wouldn’t even hurt a fly is terrifying. I’m so scared, Eric,” Felix mocks, and slides out of his boyfriend’s arms before he could smack him again. Felix stands on the hallway and laughs at the pouty brunet standing in the middle of the living room.</p>
<p>He should’ve asked Mark if he wanted to move out with him. But, as much as Felix loved the guy (and he did; he even shed a few tears when he told him he was moving out of the dorms), Felix was on need of some privacy. It had been three years of living in the Yonsei dormitory, and most of the people he first knew when he moved to Korea had already moved out. A little bit of independence wouldn’t hurt, right?</p>
<p>Besides, he had a boyfriend now, and boyfriends need… well, some intimacy from time to time. And when they <em>did</em> need privacy, they couldn’t get it anywhere without Eric’s roommates being nosy.</p>
<p>He was going to miss Mark, of course, and chatting with Kevin and Jacob from time to time, and even losing to Juyeon in Mario Kart from his small time living with Eric. But this was one of his long-term goals, and nothing was comparable to signing the contract and finally feeling like somewhat of a functional adult.</p>
<p>“Hey, Lix?” Eric asks, snapping Felix out of his thoughts. “And these boxes?” he asks, pointing to the pile of boxes on the far corner of the living room.</p>
<p>Felix shrugs. “Huh. Must be from the past tenant, I guess.”</p>
<p>Eric walks over to the boxes and picks up one. “Seungmin,” he reads out loud for Chan and Felix to hear. From the corner of his eyes, Felix can see Chan squinting, like he always does when he’s trying to remember something. “Do you guys know this person?”</p>
<p>Felix shakes his head, and Chan shrugs. “Not a clue at all,” the eldest says. Felix walks over to Eric and takes the box from him, carefully putting it in its place.</p>
<p>“Told you, this must’ve been from the past tenant. The owner did tell me the last tenant might not finish up moving out by the time I moved in,” Felix says, hugging his boyfriend from behind and kissing his cheek briefly before letting go. “The dude is probably coming over for his stuff later, there’s nothing to worry about.”</p>
<p>Eric and Chan share a puzzled look, before looking back at the small blond. “It <em>is</em> weird, though, Lix. Apartments are usually empty by the time someone moves in.”</p>
<p>The blond shrugs. “Like <em>I</em> said, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Now,” he claps, and looks at his friend and boyfriend excitedly. “who’s gonna help me to organise all of this?”</p>
<p>Chan stands up from the couch and stretches himself, letting out a yawn. “I would love to, man, but I have a shift in thirty minutes and I have to get ready. Have fun, though.”</p>
<p>Chan ruffles Felix’s hair and high fives Eric, shooting the couple a smile before walking out the apartment. Felix closes the door after Chan is gone, and turns around to look at his boyfriend. “You’re in, right?”</p>
<p>Eric nods. “But just for an hour, I promised my mom I’d help her out with a few things at the bakery today.”</p>
<p>“That’s enough time for me, then,” Felix smiles, and giggles when Eric pecks him. “Alright, but no more kisses until we get something done around here, okay? I’d like not to sleep in between a mess tonight,” he says, walking hand in hand with Eric to his new bedroom.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seungmin walks over to his apartment, dragging his feet along the hallway. He shouldn’t have listened to Minho at all.</p>
<p>What should have been an hour of healthy social interaction turned into a movie marathon in Changbin’s apartment, and Seungmin being technically blackmailed into staying by Changbin’s whines. And now it’s midnight, too late to set up his stuff into the apartment and Seungmin being a tad dizzy from the little too many cocktails he had, which leads to having to sleep on the couch, and in between all the mess that a moving brings. Which he completely despises.</p>
<p>Seungmin yawns, his brain feeling incredibly heavy, and types the code into the keypad above the doorknob. There’s nothing he craves more than sinking into that comfortable couch, skip work tomorrow morning, waking up until noon and dedicating his entire day to organising what may be his forever home-</p>
<p><em>Beep</em>. Seungmin blinks, suddenly awake. He types into the keypad again, but the door makes that annoying beeping sound again. His code isn’t working.</p>
<p>Someone changed the lock. Did someone break into the apartment? More confused than scared, Seungmin tries again, with a different number combination now, blaming the alcohol for his mistake. Which has to be impossible, since he clearly remembers setting his birthday as a code earlier.</p>
<p><em>Beep</em>. Still not open. He’s starting to get annoyed now. Did the landlord come over while he was gone? The man would have texted him if that was the case, Seungmin thinks, but then another idea comes to his mind. <em>The universal code</em>. How could he forget that?</p>
<p>The black-haired man types <em>0000</em>, and watches in satisfaction how the small LED light blinks green and he can, finally, turn the doorknob. The door opens, revealing the small living room swallowed in darkness, just like he left it earlier.</p>
<p>And a small laptop screen being the only source of light in the entire room, illuminating the face of a man laying on the couch, completely immersed on his laptop screen, not noticing the presence of the other person in the room.</p>
<p>Seungmin blinks again. There is someone in his apartment.</p>
<p>There is <em>someone</em> in <em>his</em> apartment. Using <em>his</em> couch. Somehow, the idea of the burglar using his couch is more infuriating than the entire breaking in into his brand-new apartment.</p>
<p>“Excuse me?” Seungmin says, a little too squeaky for his liking. The man on the couch, who was apparently asleep, perks up and removes one of his earbuds, looking at Seungmin, squinting. Seungmin raises an eyebrow; did this person just broke into an apartment and has the audacity of looking confused now? “Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my apartment?”</p>
<p>“What?” the man mumbles, in English and in a rather deep accented voice. In another circumstances, Seungmin would have been fairly intimidated, but in that moment, he feels more annoyed than anything. Seungmin pats the wall next to him, looking for the light switch, and when he finally finds it, he flicks it up, illuminating the entire room and revealing the intruder. “Dude, what the fuck?”</p>
<p>He is, indeed, a man, with bleached blond hair, a small face and Asian features, something that confuses Seungmin as he thought he was some kind of foreigner. He looks way younger than his voice implied, and he looks smaller than Seungmin, but Seungmin has never been good at physical fights, so he’d have to resort to another thing if there’s the need to take the stranger down.</p>
<p>And he’s shirtless. For Heaven’s sake. A complete <em>stranger</em> is laying <em>shirtless</em> on <em>his</em> couch.</p>
<p>There’s nothing more Seungmin wants now than grab the nearest box and launch it at the blond to knock him unconscious, but he has to remain civil. “I repeat: who the <em>fuck</em> are you and what are you doing in <em>my</em> apartment?”</p>
<p>“Your… your?” the blond blinks, and then his face lights up into a bright smile, catching Seungmin off-guard. Alright. He wasn’t expecting this at all. “Oh, you must be Seungmin then!” he cheerly says, switching to a perfect Korean so fast that makes the black-haired man blink repeatedly. How does he know his name? Is this weird guy some kind of stalker or anything like that? “I was thinking you’d come over tomorrow, since now it’s kind of late…”</p>
<p>Okay. There’s something Seungmin is definitely missing on this. He, carefully, eyes the apartment. There are way too many boxes around the living room, and Seungmin didn’t bring too much stuff when he moved in. There are, also, three couches and two refrigerators, one that Seungmin identifies as his.</p>
<p>“Excuse me,” he, finally, speaks out after a minute, gathering the attention of the smiling blond, “what do you mean with ‘come over’?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, you know, to get the rest of your stuff,” the small blond replies, vaguely gesturing around. “Mr. Yang did tell me that the past tenant might not be completely done with the move out when I moved in, so I just figured out you’d come around and pick the rest of your stuff later. I wasn’t expecting it to be <em>this</em> late, though.”</p>
<p>Mr. Yang. That’s the name of the man who rented the apartment to him. Past tenant? Move out? Seungmin’s brain is working too fast for someone who had a few drinks earlier, connecting all of the dots. And his final theory is something that he isn’t particularly happy with.</p>
<p>“Right. So…” Seungmin looks around again, trying to identify a box that isn’t his so he can have the stranger’s name. “Felix, right?” he reads out of one of the boxes piled up on the couch next to him, and looks back to the blond, who smiles at him. “This might look weird, but I actually rented this apartment from Mr. Yang a few weeks ago. I’m not the last owner of the place or anything. This is, actually, my apartment.”</p>
<p>The smile on Felix’s face dies down as Seungmin talks, and he looks at Seungmin with a puzzled look on his face. Seungmin can literally see the engines work into his head, trying to process what he has been just told. “That’s… that’s impossible, I met up with Mr. Yang a week ago and <em>I</em> rented this apartment,” he says, standing up from the couch, genuinely confused.</p>
<p>Seungmin has a conclusion already, and is something he really doesn’t like at all. “It seems like the man rented the same apartment twice,” he says, more to himself than to the blond, who still seems to be very confused. “You know what, let’s solve all of this tomorrow,” Seungmin voices, more loudly now, startling Felix. “It’s way too late to be dealing with these kinds of technicisms.”</p>
<p>Felix nods, sitting on the couch again, just as Seungmin walks over to it. The two men look at each other, and Seungmin has to contain himself to not knock the blond over with the nearest box. <em>He’s still sitting on his couch practically naked.</em> “Is there something wrong?”</p>
<p>“You’re sitting on my couch,” Seungmin deadpans, arching his brow again, having to bite his tongue to not mention the naked bit. Felix blinks, making Seungmin let out a shaky breath. He’s surely losing his patience. “I want to sleep, Felix.”</p>
<p>“Oh!” the blond exclaims, getting up quickly. He picks up the laptop and walks to the hallway. Seungmin is ready to look for some comfortable clothes to sleep in when he feels Felix’s curious gaze on him still. The black-haired man turns around, finding Felix looking at him with his head tilted. “You’re sleeping on the couch? Are you sure you don’t want my bed for the night?”</p>
<p>He even had a bed already. Seungmin bites his tongue again and shakes his head. “No, this is alright. This is my couch either way,” he says, forcing a smile into his face. Luckily for him, Felix doesn’t notice the forced smile and smiles back.</p>
<p>“Good night, then!” he waves, and disappears into the hallway. Seungmin waits until the blond is completely out of sight to shove his fist into his mouth and scream into it as loud as he can.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Their landlady is a young woman, seemingly confused by what’s unfolding in front of her. Felix doesn’t blame her, though. Seungmin is taller than both and, with his serious face, he looks absolutely scary right now. Felix makes a mental note to never get on Seungmin’s bad side.</p>
<p>“I’m afraid I’m not… quite understanding what’s happening here, Mr. Kim,” she says, looking in between the two men with a raised eyebrow. “You’re trying to say that you two rented the same apartment without being aware of it?”</p>
<p>“Exactly that. I rented it first, by the way,” Seungmin says, incredibly polite despite the fact that his eyes are two daggers ready to stab the next person they are laid on. Felix isn’t even surprised when Seungmin glares at him before continuing to talk. “I moved in here yesterday afternoon and when I came back, he was into the apartment, believing that I was the past tenant of the building. Which by the way, I am <em>not</em>.”</p>
<p>“I didn’t really know the apartment had been rented already, I swear. Mr. Yang told me the apartment was completely free when I called him,” Felix points out, timid. The woman nods, her hands neatly placed on top of her desk. Felix can feel Seungmin’s piercing glare drilling through his skull, and he tries to distract himself from Seungmin basically murdering him with his eyes by looking at the landlady’s desk.</p>
<p>“Yang Byungho, is that the name of your lessor?” she asks, and the two men nod. She hums, turning around to one of the drawers behind her. “He sold the apartment back a few days ago, but I’m sure I have his lease contracts over here. Which number is your apartment?”</p>
<p>“312,” both say at the same time, and both men look at each other for a short while before looking away. Felix can feel his ears burning, and he swears he heard a little snicker that came from the woman in front of them.</p>
<p>“Okay, let me check… third floor… alright, here they are!” she turns back to Seungmin and Felix with a smile, one that quickly disappears once Seungmin arches a brow. Wow, he is really mad, Felix thinks, and decides to not tear his eyes away from the desk, in fear of getting pulverised.</p>
<p>The woman (Park Jihyo, as it reads on the small plaque on top of her desk, Felix notes) sits down and gestures to the two men to sit down as well. “Alright, so it says here… that the apartment was rented to Kim Seungmin on December 29th,” she says, reading one of the contracts, and Felix can see Seungmin’s smug smile from the corner of his eyes. This won’t end up well for Felix, he’s pretty sure. What if he gets kicked out of the apartment now? All because Seungmin rented the apartment first?</p>
<p>Miss Park’s focused face turns into a frown when she looks through the bunch of papers on her hands, and takes out a particular one. “But also… it says here that apartment 312 was rented to Felix Lee Yongbok on January 5th,” she reads, and shows both of the contracts to them. Indeed, the contracts were both for the same apartment, and Felix can’t help but sigh.</p>
<p>He got scammed. Honestly, out of all the things he was expecting from renting an apartment for the first time, getting scammed into signing a contract for an already rented apartment was not one of them. At least this can be a funny anecdote, Felix thinks. Adulting gone wrong. He can even make a storytime thread on Twitter and get fame out of it.</p>
<p>The most reassuring thing is that Felix isn’t going through this alone. When he looks at his right side, Seungmin is perplexed, staring at the contract like it’s his death sentence.</p>
<p>“But… but isn’t this basically illegal?” Seungmin asks after three minutes of staring at the contract with his mouth agape. It really took three minutes for him to realise that, Felix thinks.</p>
<p>“It is, but if we’re being serious, Mr. Yang is probably in another country already,” Miss Park says, shrugging. Felix has to repress his laughter, but can’t be able to contain the small chuckle he lets out, and Seungmin glares at him before burying his face into his hands. This situation is so surreal it ends up being inevitably funny. “Look, since this is completely out of our hands, I have two solutions for you both,” she says, going through the drawers of the desk, looking for something. “Here, look.”</p>
<p>The woman places something that looks like a small catalogue in front of them, Felix reaching first to grab it. It’s a pamphlet of different buildings around the city, he reads. Seungmin coughs (a little too loud), and Felix hesitantly passes the brochure to Seungmin.</p>
<p>“My father owns a few more buildings around Seoul, so if you want, you can choose any of these,” the woman says, pointing to the pamphlet on Seungmin’s hands, who’s meticulously reading the paper. “I could make a few calls, redo your contract and you’ll be ready to move in just a day. I’ll even provide the moving service as an apology for this <em>very</em> unpleasant situation.”</p>
<p>Seungmin sighs. Felix quickly spares a glance at him and he’s surprised to see him pout. For someone that looks quite intimidating when mad, Seungmin is actually really cute. It reminds Felix of a puppy. A very angry puppy, at least. “These apartments are all in Gangnam… I chose this place because it is near university,” he says, nervously fiddling with his fingers.</p>
<p>“Yeah, me too,” Felix intervenes, grabbing the pamphlet from Seungmin’s hands and reading it, more carefully. Not only the buildings were at the other side of the city, but also had insane rents, ones that Felix definitely won’t be able to afford. Not with his current job, at least. “I can’t move out from here, I’m really sorry,” he says, giving the pamphlet back to the landlady.</p>
<p>Miss Park nods, understanding. “The other thing I had in mind was that I could merge your contracts.”</p>
<p>Felix blinks, confused. Seungmin, on the other hand, is quick to ask questions. “What do you mean by ‘merge’?”</p>
<p>“You could stay in the apartment and share the lease, so you’ll only pay half of it and not the entire amount for having two different contracts,” she explains, getting a small ‘<em>oh</em>’ from the two men. There’s a mutual look between Felix and Seungmin, like both have reached the same conclusion.</p>
<p>“But that means…”</p>
<p>“We’ll have to live together,” Felix interrupts Seungmin, realising that if he wants to stay, he’ll have to share the apartment with Seungmin. Seungmin, who doesn’t look exactly happy with the idea. Seungmin, who now is pouting again, and not in the adorable way. Seungmin, whose eyes Felix can feel drilling on his skull and probably wishing to obliterate him right now and there.</p>
<p>So yeah. He’s not quite happy with the idea, as well.</p>
<p>An uncomfortable silence sets into the small office, quickly broken by the landlady. “Of course, you don’t have to tell me what you want right now,” she says, softly smiling. Seungmin stands up from his seat and politely bobs his head at the woman, who bobs back. “Think about it and when you are sure of your decision, call me.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, miss Park,” Felix says, bowing as well and standing up. Seungmin mumbles a small ‘thank you’, and quickly gets out of the office, followed closely by Felix.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Felix sits down on the floor, absolutely defeated, despite the number of couches scattered around the small living room. Seungmin walks out of the kitchen with a glass of water, and stares at the blond with a raised eyebrow. “There are couches, you know?” he says, gesturing at the living room. “A lot of them, actually.”</p>
<p>“Don’t judge me,” Felix hisses, rolling his eyes. Seungmin scoffs and sits down on the nearest sofa, taking a sip from his glass of water.</p>
<p>“Calm down with the attitude. You’re not the only one who’s upset for all this,” the black-haired man says, calmly, even though Felix can detect the bitterness carefully injected into his words. He sighs, averting his gaze from Seungmin and fixing it on the coffee table, still enveloped on plastic. Oh, yeah. They still need to talk about the <em>thing</em>.</p>
<p>If it were for Felix, he would make sure they never talk about it and just ignore the fact that they have to live together until it becomes unavoidable. He’s not even annoyed by the fact that he has to share the apartment, though. If having a roommate is the price to pay for the really good located, budget-friendly apartment, then so be it!</p>
<p>But when the roommate is a stuck up, hostile, cold and mean bitch that doesn’t even want to sacrifice his independence for the sake of keeping the apartment, then Felix isn’t that sure. Specially when said roommate is staring at him like the only thing he wants right now is to smash that glass of water on his head.</p>
<p>“So,” Seungmin speaks after what felt like hours, making Felix lift his head. “You really, <em>really</em> can’t move out from here?”</p>
<p>Felix narrows his eyes. Whatever Seungmin is planning, he doesn’t like it.</p>
<p>“You’re trying to kick me out?” he scoffs, resisting the urge of rolling his eyes. Felix doesn’t know if the man is heartless enough to kick him out without a doubt, but with the way Seungmin has been behaving he isn’t risking it. Specially when Seungmin was the first one to rent the apartment. Felix isn’t that keen on legal stuff, but he knows that fact could be unfavourable in case all this escalates into a legal battle.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, Seungmin looks actually insulted at the accusation. “Do you think I’m that mean? Seriously?” he says, offended. Or maybe he’s faking it. Felix doesn’t know. “Wow, I feel really offended by that. Is that the impression I’ve left on you after a day?”</p>
<p>“Well, you’ve been nothing but mean to me ever since we found out about this,” Felix scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. Seungmin narrows his eyes, like he doesn’t believe a word of what the blond is saying. Oh, so <em>now</em> he wants to play innocent. “Why can’t <em>you</em> move out, huh? Why does it have to be <em>me</em>?”</p>
<p>Seungmin is serious, now. <em>If he grips that glass harder, he’s gonna end up breaking it</em>, Felix thinks, and gulps.</p>
<p>(In another circumstances, Felix would have found that moment to be <em>really</em> hot, but right now the man in front of him is his mortal enemy).</p>
<p>“I rented this place first,” he simply says, shrugging. Felix is about to argue that <em>that’s the most stupid excuse I’ve ever heard</em>, but Seungmin speaks out again before he could even speak. “I didn’t even want a roommate, in the first place.”</p>
<p>Alright. That <em>is</em> valid reasoning. He could’ve said that in the first place instead of acting like a complete asshole. But still, Felix isn’t willing to let the apartment go. “Not even to keep the place?”</p>
<p>Seungmin’s lips curve into a small smile, but Felix quickly realises his eyes aren’t. For someone who looks like he wouldn’t kill a fly, Seungmin has just turned into someone incredibly terrifying. Felix can safely say he’s in trouble, now. This won’t end well for him.</p>
<p>“It isn’t a requirement,” Seungmin says, looking directly at Felix. The sharp daggers that are his eyes now are cold, nothing to do with the smile that graces his lips now. The words that come next are just as icy. “You have two weeks.”</p>
<p>That last phrase takes Felix aback. “What for?”</p>
<p>“To find another place. It’ll be enough, right?” he answers, leaving Felix stunned. Seungmin really wants him out. He’s really kicking him out of… his own place. “Yeah, I think that’ll be enough.”</p>
<p>“You have to be kidding. This is a joke, right?” Felix says, standing up so quickly that his iron levels drop all of a sudden and he believes he’s about to faint. “You can’t kick me out, this is literally my place as well!”</p>
<p>“It’s not kicking you out, moving out was an option,” Seungmin shrugs, downing what’s left of his water and leaving the glass on top of the coffee table.</p>
<p>“But sharing the apartment with me was an option too! Why the fuck are you so selfish, huh?” Felix shouts, momentarily forgetting he’s in an apartment building right now. But honestly, he’s raging, so he’s excused. “I literally cannot move out, and you heard it when we were at Miss Park’s office. Why can’t you take that stick out of your ass for a minute and stop being such an entitled piece of shit?” the blond lets out, taking a big breath after that. He closes his eyes to calm down for a moment, and when he opens them, he sees Seungmin staring right at him.</p>
<p>He’s stunned, his mouth slightly open and Felix swears his eyes softened. Seungmin’s lips are trembling, and for a minute Felix regrets calling him an entitled piece of shit.</p>
<p>Until Seungmin’s eyes become cold again, and the temperature in the living room drops down several grades, or at least that’s how it feels. “Two weeks,” he deadpans, his voice deprived of every single emotion. And Felix, honestly, is absolutely fed up.</p>
<p>“You’re a bitch,” the blond snarls, not even minding that Seungmin looks actually hurt at that: he’s not falling for his cheap soft boy tricks again. Felix turns around and walks to his room (or well, soon to not be his), trying to fight the few tears that prickle at his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The electric kettle turns off and Seungmin immediately pours the boiling water into his cup, watching the clear water become a faint green. He takes the cup and walks quickly to his room, trying to ignore the soft sobs that are coming from the other room.</p>
<p>He closes the door and leaves the cup on his bedside table, putting on his earbuds so he isn’t listening to Felix’s sobs and instead to the very amusing conversation his friends are having on their videocall.</p>
<p>“I… think I may have been a little bit too harsh,” Seungmin says, interrupting the heated discussion about dumplings and veganism that Soobin and Jinyoung are having. He almost wishes he didn’t, because now there are four pair of eyes judging him.</p>
<p>“You <em>think</em>? You <em>were</em> way too harsh, you stupid fuck!” Heejin squeals, and Seungmin winces at the screech. “You made him <em>cry</em>! You’re an asshole, Seungmin, what the hell?”</p>
<p>“Thank you. I absolutely needed you to remind me that I’m an asshole,” Seungmin sighs, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He’s protected by the laptop screen because he’s pretty sure Heejin would have decked him immediately after saying that, and he’s not wrong. His friend is fuming, her eye is twitching and she looks like she’s going to develop the ability to teleport from her own home to Seungmin’s place just to beat his ass.</p>
<p>(He may deserve it, but admitting it would be a very low blow to his pride.)</p>
<p>“At least you recognise it, though,” Soobin interrupts Heejin before she could start to angrily rant again. She, now, sits pouting at the screen, glaring at Seungmin so hard he feels the need to bury his head under his blanket. “You basically told the guy that you didn’t care if he was homeless by next week, you wanted him out. That was pretty asshole-y of you.”</p>
<p>Seungmin opens his mouth to try and defend himself, but closes it after he realises there’s nothing he can say to excuse his horrible behaviour earlier in the day. Honestly? He feels like complete shit, and there’s that particular nagging voice in his head that sounds too much like Minho’s voice sometimes telling him <em>you suck, Seungmin</em>. He knows he has to apologise to Felix, but he isn’t sure if he still wants to keep him as a roommate. If he says sorry but still asks Felix to leave the place, he’ll still be an asshole.</p>
<p>Jeez, this is too hard. Seungmin is the worst person ever, now. He’s going directly to hell, if it even exists, and if it doesn’t, then he’s going to create it with his bad actions.</p>
<p>“You <em>do</em> know what is next, right, Seungmin?” Jinyoung asks, his head slightly tilted to the side. Seungmin does know, but he cannot bring himself to say it. Brain too busy beating him up. “You have to apologise. And let him stay.”</p>
<p>Before he can stop it, Seungmin groans. “Why should I let him stay? That’s not fair!”</p>
<p>Immediately after saying that, his four friends sigh. “Seungmin.”</p>
<p>“Before you all say anything, I <em>have</em> a valid excuse,” he says, lifting his two hands. “And will you<em> please</em> stop calling me by my full name? I feel like I’m being scolded.”</p>
<p>“We <em>are</em> scolding you, Min,” Nakyung says, giggling, and Seungmin feels the tips of his ears heat up. He hates his friends sometimes. “But go ahead. I’m dying to see what you come up with this time.”</p>
<p>Seungmin sighs. Why do these people know him so well? Then he remembers he’s been hanging around them for three years now, and his question finds a quick answer.</p>
<p>“Look,” he starts, looking straight at the camera. He’s pretty sure it isn’t working because Soobin is snorting. “why would I want to live with a complete stranger? He could be a murderer, for all I know.”</p>
<p>He smiles at his friends, his resident-good-boy smile that used to get him candies from his older sister back when they were kids. But sadly, these aren’t his sister and he isn’t five anymore.</p>
<p>“You do know that when we lived in the residence, we were <em>all</em> strangers, right, Min?” Jinyoung says, and Seungmin may have coincidentally forgotten that small part. He sighs, his smile dropping. “That’s not an excuse. Let him stay.”</p>
<p>“Also, don’t even pretend you we’re planning to live alone forever,” Heejin says, and Seungmin knows he’s gone as red as a tomato because his face is burning, his palms are sweating and it’s a cold January night. When did he became so transparent and how did Heejin knew that, exactly?</p>
<p>“Notice how we didn’t say any names and he blew his own cover,” Soobin laughs, and Seungmin buries his face on his hands. He hates it here.</p>
<p>“I’m gonna kill you. All of you,” Seungmin mumbles, barely audible over the laughter of the four people on the videocall. “Okay, say <em>I </em>do apologise. What if he doesn’t accept it? What if he doesn’t want to stay?”</p>
<p>“Couldn’t blame him,” Jinyoung shrugs, and Seungmin just stares at him. “You know, you could get him food. Pay for his dinner. It’s the least you could do.”</p>
<p>Seungmin checks the time. It’s still early enough to go get some takeout and drinks for the two of them, and he thinks it would be a very nice gesture from him. It would be nice. At least, Seungmin would appreciate the gesture if he had been in Felix’s place. Even though he wouldn’t really forgive someone who heartlessly kicked him out.</p>
<p>He, then, realises that he should’ve just look at things from Felix’s perspective.</p>
<p>“You’re actually thinking of it, right?” Jinyoung says after a few minutes, and Seungmin realises he got lost into his own thoughts for a while. He shakes his head and looks at Jinyoung’s face, shrank into the small rectangle in the laptop screen.</p>
<p>“How do you know that?”</p>
<p>“Because I know you, Min, and I know you’re actually regretting all of this,” his friend simply says, shooting a small smile at him. Seungmin hates to admit it, but he’s right.</p>
<p>He takes his phone and does a quick Naver search, looking up the place in the navigator of his phone. “I’m heading out, guys. See you later,” he says a few minutes later, taking off his earbuds. His friends wave him goodbye before he hangs up the call.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seungmin opens up the door of the apartment, a small plastic bag hanging from his hand, and carefully takes out his shoes. There isn’t a shoe rack still, so there’s a mess of shoes behind the door. It bugs him, but he can take care of it later. First, he has to deliver food to his soon to be new roommate.</p>
<p>The walk to the nearest night market really helped him clear his mind. Now, he knows that he definitely deserved being called a stuck-up asshole and a bitch. He did behave like one, to be honest.</p>
<p>Even if Felix decides to leave (and Seungmin would totally understand it, even though now it does makes him a little bit sad to have the blond leave), Seungmin still needs to apologise. Not to save face, but because he does feel bad about the heated discussion of the afternoon. Felix literally offered Seungmin his <em>own</em> bed the first night after finding out he planned to sleep in the couch, and they had met each other for ten minutes.</p>
<p>Felix is the nice person Seungmin should have been, and even though he knows he’s <em>usually</em> a nice person, he’s pretty sure he’s not as nice as Felix.</p>
<p>But well, enough of the self-beating up, he thinks. It’s time to try and redeem himself.</p>
<p>Seungmin closes the door behind him and walks carefully to Felix’s room, noticing that the living room is still engulfed in complete darkness. <em>Felix hasn’t left the room ever since he left?</em> Then that means he hasn’t even had dinner, then.</p>
<p>He can hear soft music playing from inside the bedroom (no more sobbing, thank God), and a rustling of things, like Felix is moving stuff around the room. Before he can stop himself and rethink the entire plan, Seungmin slowly knocks on the door.</p>
<p>The rustling stops, and slow, careful steps can be heard. A few minutes pass (or does it feel like that because Seungmin is definitely nervous?), and Seungmin is about to run away when the door finally opens.</p>
<p>The height difference isn’t even that much, but now, Felix looks even more small. Seungmin definitely does <em>not</em> see how Felix’s eyes are red-rimmed and his face looks slightly bloated, and instead decides to focus on the blond’s head. “Hey,” he starts, forcing himself into a smile. “I brought food?”</p>
<p>Seungmin lifts the bag, feeling like his smile looks even more genuine, but Felix doesn’t say anything. He’s pissed, or at least Seungmin can assume it since he’s not focusing on anything more but his bleached blonde hair. If Minho was there, he’d definitely call him a coward. “Can I enter?”</p>
<p>Felix hesitantly moves from the doorframe, letting Seungmin enter the small room. It’s full of boxes, just like the room of someone who has just moved in, but there’s no open box nor a pile of clothes in the bed, like the way Seungmin’s room looks right now. He can clearly hear the music now (Coldplay, if his small knowledge of Western music is correct), and it comes from the only thing that makes the empty room look like a normal room: the laptop.</p>
<p><em>He was probably looking for places to move out as soon as possible</em>, Seungmin thinks, and the thought only makes him feel even worse. He hears a cough, and Seungmin turns around to see Felix still standing on the doorframe, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes squinted. The way he looks at him isn’t that of someone who’s pissed, or murderous. Felix looks actually confused. “Eh… I thought we could have dinner. Only if you want, of course,” Seungmin says, to which Felix moves his eyes to the plastic bag to Seungmin again, his eyes slowly softening. “I don’t know if you like <em>tteokbokki</em>, but when I’m really stressed or mad, I always go out for some. And I thought… I thought we could share,” he finishes, very quickly and stumbling over his words and <em>is that a tiny smile I see on Felix’s face oh my God I think he agrees-</em></p>
<p>Felix points at a box on the floor, and Seungmin takes three minutes to understand that they can use the box as a makeshift table. He quickly rushes to the floor, sitting next to the box, getting the food out while Felix sits across him, still quiet.</p>
<p>Seungmin gives one of the takeout boxes to Felix along with a pair of chopsticks, who nods. The silence between the two is deafening, only broken by the mellow voice of the lead singer coming from the laptop’s speakers. He, then, takes out two milk tea boxes, and carefully slides one across the box to Felix. “I got drinks, too.”</p>
<p>The meal passes by quickly, with Seungmin concentrating more on his food and the soothing songs from Felix’s playlist, until the awkward feeling is enough for him and Seungmin stops eating. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles, not daring to look at the blond sitting across him. He, nervously, fiddles with the chopsticks in his hand. “For the fight from earlier, and for asking you to move out. I was just really mad, I didn’t think anything through. I’d understand if you really want to go now, I did behave like a stuck-up asshole…”</p>
<p>Felix chuckles, the first sound that comes out of his mouth from the entire evening, and Seungmin sighs, relieved. He seems to have taken it well.</p>
<p>A few more minutes pass before Felix speaks for the first time ever since their joint evening started, startling Seungmin and making him drop his food into his jeans. “I’m sorry, too,” he says, his voice sounding even deeper and a little bit hoarse. “For calling you a selfish, entitled piece of shit. And a bitch.”</p>
<p>“I did deserve it, though,” Seungmin says, making Felix giggle. The two of them fall into silence again, but this time it doesn’t have the awkwardness from earlier; now it is a more comfortable silence, only broken by the melodies softly playing in the background and Felix trying to empty his tea box. “You know you can actually stay now, right? You don’t have to move out anymore,” Seungmin says, feeling that warm sensation on his ears when Felix looks at him, eyes wide and his lips slightly parted. “I’ll call Miss Park tomorrow to tell her she can merge the contracts. It’s okay.”</p>
<p>Seungmin doesn’t miss Felix’s tiny smile when he tells him that, nor the fact that his eyes seem to illuminate. The blond doesn’t say anything, just nods, focusing on his now empty takeout box. Seungmin isn’t that good at interpreting gestures, but he’s taking Felix’s small nod as an “okay, I’ll stay”.</p>
<p>Seungmin stands up and lifts both his box and Felix’s, gathering all of their trash into the plastic bag he brought earlier. “It’s late, I think I’ll head out. Good night, Felix,” he says, waving the blond goodbye (even if his room was literally across Felix’s and they’ll probably see each other tomorrow morning).</p>
<p>“Good night,” Felix says, waving back. Seungmin turns around and walks to the door, but Felix speaks up again, making him turn around. “And… thank you, man.”</p>
<p>Seungmin smiles, shaking his head. “No problem, Felix.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Felix just literally keeps winning.</p>
<p>Somehow, when the world seemed to be against him, luck made a weird turn and now he’s not soon to be homeless anymore. Also, who would’ve thought Seungmin was actually a nice person?</p>
<p>The living room is still a complete mess, there’s a lot of couches around and you can barely walk without having to become a professional hiker, but Felix made himself some space to have breakfast. And now he’s here, happily enjoying his cereal, even though he’s sitting on the floor and he can’t sit comfortably without bumping into some wrapped up furniture.</p>
<p>Everything’s good. Life is good. Felix loves life right now.</p>
<p>He hears a door closing and then Seungmin walks into the living room, seemingly looking for Felix. The blond is currently hidden behind the mess of furniture, so he lifts up his hand. “Good morning, roomie!” he cheerily greets, startling the black-haired man and making him look to where Felix’s hand is peeking behind some kind of table. (Is that his or Seungmin’s? At this point, he doesn’t even know.)</p>
<p>Seungmin carefully walks to where Felix is sitting, on his pyjamas and eating cereal, very different to Seungmin, who’s casually dressed, like he’s going out somewhere. “Want some cerea-?” he starts, but gets interrupted by Seungmin shoving a paper onto his hands. “What’s this?”</p>
<p> “A set of rules,” Seungmin replies, and Felix has to swallow a laugh. Holy shit. “If we’re gonna live together, we have to set <em>at least</em> a few rules to make this work.”</p>
<p>Felix blinks, still looking up at Seungmin, who looks very serious about all of this. He nods and reads the paper, Seungmin’s attentive gaze upon him. “When did you do this?”</p>
<p>“Last night,” Seungmin says, calmly, seeming to deliberately ignore Felix’s dumbfounded expression. “Read it and let me know if you wanna change anything.”</p>
<p>Felix hums, his eyes still fixed in the rules. Suddenly, one of the rules listed catches his eye, and he looks up at Seungmin with lifted eyebrows. “What does the fourth rule means?” he asks, pretending to be clueless, completely understanding what the fourth rule means. He just wants to see Seungmin try and explain that one.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, Seungmin’s ears get red. Felix giggles, only to shut up a few seconds later when Seungmin gives him a pointed look. “Well… you know. Intimacy… and all that,” he replies after a few minutes, making Felix snort and Seungmin frowns, pouting. “Don’t make fun of me. That’s not cool.”</p>
<p>“You could’ve just said ‘sexile is valid’ and it would’ve been enough,” Felix says, and Seungmin goes totally red now, choking on his own spit. This is so funny. He’s totally pushing his boundaries now, but Felix thinks that building a little trust in between the two of them is better for a healthy living environment than a set of rules like they’re back in high school again. Felix can only hope Seungmin doesn’t take his light-hearted jokes to heart. “I’m just joking, by the way. I totally understood what you meant; you only write like you’re a 50 years old private boarding school headmaster.”</p>
<p>Seungmin scoffs, still frowning, and Felix decides he’d try and get into the black-haired man’s nerves more. He doesn’t look intimidating at all; he looks like a small angry puppy. “Whatever. Just… let me know if you agree, okay? I have to go,” Seungmin says, turning around and starting his way out the maze that is their living room now. “Shit, we really need to get rid of everything right now.”</p>
<p>“You’re not staying? For breakfast? I bought cereal,” Felix says, but Seungmin quickly shakes his head.</p>
<p>“I got work, I’ll think I’ll get something at the nearest convenience store. See you later,” Seungmin says, turning around and waving at Felix from the door. Felix waves back, focusing on his cereal (or what’s left of it). “My number is at the bottom, if you need anything!”</p>
<p>The door closes behind Seungmin and Felix is left alone again. He sighs, picking up his phone and dialling Chan’s number. “Hyung?” he says into the phone when the eldest finally picks up. “Are you free today? Because I really need your help right now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>sunshine !!<br/></strong>hey<br/>i got a way to get rid of the extra furniture lol</p>
<p><strong>You<br/></strong>who’s this</p>
<p><strong>sunshine !!</strong><br/>it’s me duh<br/>felix<br/>who else would text you abt furniture</p>
<p><strong>You<br/></strong>oh yeah</p>
<p><strong>felix lee<br/></strong>help<br/>anyways i got rid of the extra furniture<br/>dw not ur furniture lol</p>
<p><strong>You<br/></strong>thanks… i guess?<br/>i actually had something planned already but<br/>well</p>
<p><strong>felix lee<br/></strong>always one step ahead roomie!!<br/>anyways see u later</p>
<p><strong>You</strong><br/>yeah<br/>see you later</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Seungmin enters the apartment again, he’s pretty surprised by the radical change from this morning to now. Even though there’s still a mess of boxes and things to arrange still, at least you can now walk freely without bumping into something and cursing your entire bloodline. And the best of it all is that it’s still his own furniture. He has to thank Felix for that one.</p>
<p>Speaking of which, Felix is nowhere to be seen. Seungmin takes off his shoes and leaves them in the shoe rack behind the door (they have a shoe rack now!), and notices there’s no pair of house slippers besides his own, the one’s he is wearing now. And judging by the soft music coming from the hallway, he’s pretty sure Felix is home at the moment.</p>
<p>He walks to the kitchen after closing the door behind him, suddenly remembering that there’s probably nothing on the cabinets since the first days of moving in were a complete mess, and he sighs; he really needs to start working on a cleaning and grocery shopping schedule because he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to survive on takeout for another week.</p>
<p>(He can’t cook, but he also doesn’t have the funds to get takeout every night.)</p>
<p>Seungmin walks out of the kitchen to find Felix walking out of the hallway, and they stare at each other for a minute straight before Felix breaks out into a big smile. “Hi there, roomie!”</p>
<p>He’s so excited, Seungmin wonders if that’s just his usual personality or if he’s just happy by the fact that he could stay. Either way, it isn’t his place to judge. “How did you get rid of all the extra furniture?” he asks, walking to the couch and sitting down, gesturing widely at the entire living room, that now actually looks like a decent living room. At least they have now a place to sit and eat, instead of having to sit in the floor and eat on boxes and unassembled furniture.</p>
<p>The blond shrugs, like it wasn’t a big deal. “I called one of my friends and he helped me find somewhere to donate the stuff to. Then we assembled everything that could be assembled. I didn’t touch the stuff on the boxes labelled with your name, don’t worry. I’m not nosy like that,” he laughs, making Seungmin chuckle. Maybe having Felix as a roommate won’t even be that bad.</p>
<p>“You should’ve waited for me to help, I can’t believe you really did this alone,” Seungmin says, while Felix only shakes his head and mumbles a <em>no problem, it’s okay</em>. He takes out his phone and looks for the fastest takeout place he can find, looking for something for them to have dinner. Guess he’s paying for dinner for the second time in a row. (He needs to add another rule concerning that.)</p>
<p>Speaking of…</p>
<p>“By the way, what did you think about the rules?” he asks, and Felix’s face lights up. He lifts up his hand, like he’s telling Seungmin to wait, and runs back into the hallway. Seungmin just sits there, kind of dumbfounded, because w<em>here would he even go?</em></p>
<p>Felix is back a few seconds later and basically slides into the couch, startling Seungmin and making him distance himself from the excited blond who just jumped into the couch. Felix is getting a little bit <em>too</em> comfortable with personal space boundaries. He, then, hands Seungmin another sheet of paper. “I thought, since I also live here, I could make a few rules as well,” he says, smirking, gesturing Seungmin to read the rules he had made.</p>
<p>Seungmin realises it’s the exact same sheet of paper he gave Felix that morning, just scribbled down and written onto. He, carefully, reads the new additions made with blue ink, and stops on a particular one. “What do you mean with ‘cuddle Fridays’?”</p>
<p>“We must have <em>at least</em> a day to hang around together. You know, a movie, binge watch something, whatever, I don’t mind,” Felix explains, looking very proud of himself. Seungmin can just stare at him, blinking once at the proud blond sitting in front of him. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. We <em>need</em> to bond if we’re gonna be roommates, Seungmin, this won’t work if we pretend we don’t know each other all time.”</p>
<p>Seungmin wasn’t actually planning on doing that, but now that he thinks about it, it isn’t a very bad idea. “And did you had to call them <em>cuddle Fridays</em> out of all the possible names?”</p>
<p>Surprisingly for Seungmin, Felix’s ears colour a very particular cherry red. “Oh, no, the cuddle is optional.”</p>
<p>Seungmin sighs. He can do this, right? Not a big deal. A day of the week dedicated to only hang around his cheery, overexcited new roommate. It’s not like this will be forever. Just a temporary sacrifice.</p>
<p>He nods, inevitably laughing at Felix’s excited squeal, and then stands up with his phone in hands. “Hey, where are you going? We were having a nice bonding time here, roomie,” Felix says, pouting.</p>
<p>“I’m gonna order takeout. What do you want?” Seungmin asks, showing Felix the available places from where they could order.</p>
<p>“You’re paying?” Felix asks, and Seungmin nods, making the blond shake his head. “No, let me pay at least tonight. It isn’t fair.”</p>
<p>Seungmin shrugs and practically shoves his phone into Felix’s face, trying to make him choose. “And you set up our entire living room alone. It’s on me, don’t worry.”</p>
<p>Felix pouts even more, probably thinking he’d convince Seungmin with that, but he’s friends with Seo Changbin, who pulls a lot of cutesy acts to get his way out of things and he cannot be tricked anymore. “Just choose something unless you wanna starve tonight.”</p>
<p>“Fine, alright. Fried chicken, if you’re insisting,” Felix scoffs, even though he has a smile on his face and Seungmin nods, taking back his phone and opening the app to order.</p>
<p>“Good. I like fried chicken too.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>